Forgotten
by Magic Flying Spud
Summary: So the Drama AU. Everything is seemingly the same up until the big reveal. Eric is not the Syntho-Drone this time, but someone else very close to Kim is.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **_Hi! Thanks for reading! This fic has already been written, and will be posted up over the week. Warning, it's definitely darker than my usual stuff. It's based off an idea I pitched during a fanfic exchange that no one picked it up, so I figured I might as well write it. I'm actually kind of surprised no one has done this "twist" yet from my knowledge. Feel free to point me to other fics that have done the same thing._

_For anyone who actually follows me, I'm trying to streamline my profile right now. This month I am focusing on finishing the projects that are very near completion, like "You Are So Loved" and "Look Me in the Eye and Say Legilimens." I'm writing two original novels right now and really want to knock as much fic off my plate as I can. (But I might also do some random one-shots. I really want to write one-shots for Beetlejuice and Knives Out, I know that much, and maybe new trilogy Star Wars stuff.)_

_With that said, hope you enjoy this! I'd definitely label this fic as sad enough to warrant being a tragedy, but the ending is somewhat uplifting._

* * *

_Content Warning: Major Character Death._

* * *

Never before has Kim Possible felt more_ alive_.

Her favorite moment is when Shego lobs a plasma bolt at her arm, and though it tears a hole in the arm to Kim's new battlesuit Wade designed for her, the suit springs to life and regenerates itself, sealing the bloody cut out of sight. Something gets stuck in Shego's throat and for the first time ever, Kim Possible sees Shego quake in fear.

God, it feels good to fight like this. To leap around the room, parrying Shego's plasma bolts with return vollies. It is exhilarating. For once, she's not taking desperate risks or relying on Ron's dumb luck, she is absolutely in control. Every move that Shego tries to smack Kim with is something that Kim lulled Shego into doing.

This past month has been nothing but non-stop action due to Doctor Drakken finally stepping up his game. For once, the Bad Doctor actually manages to outwit her.

Li'l Diablo robots have expanded from stupid fast food toys into cybernetic monsotries, soaring through the skies, conquering the world in the name of Drakken. All it took was a brilliant toy design from the world's most original designer, and the groundbreaking technology developed by her father. With Bueno Nacho, the world's most popular fast food chain, Drakken has Planet Earth locked into checkmate.

Or so he thinks.

But Kim won't allow that. Drakken cannot win. See, he made one mistake; he kidnapped Eric. What did he expect Kim to do? Yield like a coward? No. She's on his turf now, more powerful than ever, and there is absolutely nothing that will stop her from saving her boyfriend who is…

… lowkey? Honestly, kind of a jerk. She really doesn't like the tone Eric used with Ron back at the dance. The whole conspiracy thing is something Ron cooked up, and Eric was asking like Ron was out of his mind for even thinking that Drakken could be running Bueno Nacho. She feels kinda bad not having really defended Ron either. Later on, when things settle down, Kim is going to talk about that with him. There is no reason for the two men in her life to butt heads. That's silly. And if it goes poorly, well, she can break up with Eric, it's fine.

But for now? She's celebrating! She just knocked Shego into a wall and it feels like the end of something significant.

Kim lands on the walkway and Ron runs up to her with open hands. She notes that one of his fists is bruised. Probably from clocking that Sumo Ninja. Go Ron.

They wrap arms around each other, and for a second, Kim perches her chin on his sloped shoulder. Cheeks nuzzled together, it makes her think. These past few months they've been getting so much closer.

Like the Moodulators! Also the time that she was _so _jellin' over Yori, who_ thankfully _turned out to not be Ron's girlfriend. Wait — thankfully? Well… she is _kind of _interested in Ron? That's wrong though. She's dating Eric, and besides, why would Ron be interested in her? She's this scary titan of a teenager who punches people out day in and day out. She has a hard time listening to people and their normal person problems, because she is so focused on _the work_. Ron could never go for a girl like her.

"Hey Kim," Ron whispers, and Kim realizes they've been holding each other for too long. "Can I tell you something?"

He cradles her so gently from side to side. It's very suave of him. Very unlike him, in fact. But for tonight, she'll buy it. It's been a weird month after all.

"I know you've been having second thoughts about Eric," Ron says, his voice crinkling like tissue paper. "And I just wanted to throw it out there — I know it's hard to hear — but when he saw you the first time? He called you _extreme stream_."

Kim frowns. That does hurt. She pulls back so she can look Ron in the eyes. "Thanks for telling me that, Ron. You're a good friend. I do want to talk to Eric about — the things he said to you earlier. He was kind of a jerk."

"To put it lightly, yeah," Ron chuckles.

Kim smiles again. For some reason, Ron smiling makes it okay. She nuzzles her forehead against his. _God, what am I doing? You're still dating Eric, Kim. You can't act like this. _

_Please. Just for tonight. I need this._

"Here's the thing though, KP," Ron quips, dolefully looking into her eyes with barely any distance separating them now. "There are guys out there who are better for you than Eric… guys who aren't total dill weeds for one thing."

Kim's smile gets even wider. Is this really happening? Is Ron finally going to give her the excuse?

"Do you really think there's a guy out there for me?" Kim flirts back.

Ron presses his thin lips together, sucking in his teeth before saying the next words. His eyes dart about, and he gets all clammy. "Y-yeah. Out there…_ in here_…"

Takes a second for Kim to understand what that means, and she draws closer, lips parting for his. It's just… that was just such a _Ron_ thing to say, ya know? It's… she doesn't kiss him though. She retracts and looks at him seriously. "But Ron… I'm still dating Eric. I… I'm sorry."

Ron is remarkably unaffected by that. If anything, he seems amused.

"Aw shuck," he punches at the air. "And to think, I worked so hard on writing those lines to swoon you. Too bad really. All that for nothin'."

Kim furrows her brow. "Um… Ron? Why are you making this totally weird?"

"Weird?! HA!" Ron barks, bending his head towards the ceiling, his crackly tenor falling into a smooth baritone that bounces off the domed ceiling. He looks back to Kim with a dark look in his eyes. "Or I suppose, _Booyahaha_ is more appropriate? Eh."

Ron promptly lashes forward like a snake, grabbing her by the arms.

"H-hey, R-Ron," Kim stutters, backing away fast, trying to shake Ron's grubby hands off her. "What's gotten into you? St-stop it."

"Ron? I'm afraid I'm not Ron," Ron cackles softly. "I'm Syntho-Drone 901."

"Wh-what?"

Pain. Unbearable pain. Too much to properly comprehend, but it cuts into her from all over, igniting her nerve endings in misery. Kim can barely stand, and her knees cave into the concrete. As black fades over her eyes, she sees electric sparks surge from Ron's fingers and he laughs again. Just as Shego steps into view, Shego who stands a safe distance behind Ron. But Shego is not cackling with Ron. She looks — scared.

But that doesn't matter… Shego being scared… it's just Ron. Well, Ron's a Syntho-Drone?

No.

That doesn't make sense.

When Kim wakes up…

… she'll get to the bottom of this.

* * *

"Ow. Hey! Lady. Stop hitting me."

"It's not _Lady_, it's Shego. And also I need to hit you. I'm checking something."

"Checking — ow! Hey! That hurts. Shoot, I'm bleeding. Do you have a band-aid?"

"_Do I have a band-aid?_ God, who do you think I am?"

Shego rolls her eyes and reaches into the satchel at her waist. Unbelievable. This punk, Eric, is just some random guy at the end of the day. She was absolutely convinced the past week that _he_ was the Syntho-Drone all along. Heck, Shego walked around the lair with her head held so high, her gait so haughty… Drakken is going to laugh at her when she confronts him about this.

The mechanical doors slide open, and an angry looking Drakken stands silhouetted from the ungodly bright fluorescents of corporate Bueno Nacho.

"Shego! Walk with me! Talk with me!"

Speak of the Devil… Shego grips Eric by both cheeks, pursing his lips into that of a puffer fish. She should band-aid him up, but the prick she made to his arm was pretty gentle. He'll be fine, especially since he's such a beef cake.

She turns on her heel and waves at Drakken lazily. "Yes, _talk with me_ sounds good right about now."

Drakken raises an eyebrow, peeking into the dark room to see the terrified boy still strapped to his metal chair. It takes Drakken a second to process, and when he strings it together, boy does he laugh. It all makes him feel very _smart._

"You thought the Syntho-Drone was Eric?!" Drakken wipes a tear from his eyes. "Oh, Shego, you think so small."

Shego crosses her arms and stops walking, in fact, she leans up against the wall. She is not moving until she gets to the bottom of this. "Apparently… how long?"

"Oh, a few years," Drakken shrugs like it's not a big deal. Catching that Shego is about to explode in more questions, he leans forward. "It wasn't hard, if that's what you were wondering."

Shego frowns. What wasn't hard? "What, like locking him up somewhere? Yeah, that's like, super easy."

Drakken frowns, like there is something he really doesn't want to tell her. "Nyrgh… not quite like that, Shego." He looks away from her and starts walking down the hall.

Wait… he couldn't mean — Shego dashes after him, grabbing Drakken by the bicep. "Hold up — where's the Buffoon?"

Very nervously, Drakken drags one of his wee digits across his throat, all the while spitting a slicey sound from his throat.

Shego's eyes widen as far as they can. "Oh my God… you didn't…"

"Yes," Drakken grumbles. "It was an accident at first. Poor Buffoon nearly killed himself in an accident, and I had him on my lab table, thinking him dead." Drakken swoops his arm out in an arc to indicate what that might have looked like. "I looked at him and immediately came up with how to replace him… because you know, I didn't want Kimberly Ann to be alone over something so silly."

Shego nods slowly, but this still doesn't make sense. "How did he…"

Drakken shrugs. "I can't recall. Listen, you seem squeamish. Maybe we shouldn't…" He looks away, incredibly sad. "I don't want to talk about this with you."

Shego leans back even farther. "Doc. You _killed_ someone. We _have to _talk about it. What happened next?"

"Well, fine, it is a good scheme after all" Drakken brightens up a little, sort of like a kid who is about to retell their favorite story. "Once the Buffoon woke up, I at first felt relief. But as Kimberly Ann continued to get in our way, and I understood the gravity of their threat, I remembered my Syntho-Drone idea. And I thought of how much that smelly Buffoon even meant to Kimberly Ann! The pieces came together. It would be a slowburn plan, and I knew I needed to plant him early, well before any scheme like this, to ascertain that I can truly control him. Since he does share all thoughts and memories with the Buffoon. And here we are, at the apex of my greatest plan ever!"

"That's really sick, Doc," Shego admits, quickly catching herself. Is it actually okay for Shego to bully and criticize Drakken like this now? Now that she knows that he… erm… maybe she should say something to stay on his good side. "Proud of ya, though! Heh heh."

"Oh, that's good," Drakken smiles, totally eating up Shego's phoned in laughter. "I was hoping for that. So. Shall we?"

He gestures down the hall. Shego follows his hand, but sees nothing but hallway. "What?" she blurts out.

Drakken sighs. "I want you on my arm, cackling, as I explain all of this to Kim Possible of course! Then — the world will be ours!"

Drakken just seems so happy. She really doesn't want to be the rain on his parade, but she can't _not _say it.

"How about we skip the evil monologue this one time?" Shego grabs Drakken by the arm, attempting to drag him in the opposite direction, towards the control room. "Actions speak louder than words, right?"

But Drakken swats her away. "No way, no how! Shego, I've spent _years_ on this. In fact, this might be my last evil speech ever! I simply _must_ monologue! It will be the nail in the coffin that will forever cripple Kim Possible from her life of heroism!"

"B-b-but Doc," Shego stutters. "Kimmie's been a little more aggressive than usual?" She thinks of how lucky she is to still have an intact spine after being kicked so hard into that concrete wall. "If you tell her that you killed her best friend over a year ago, she's gonna freak…"

"Oh pish posh," Drakken waves it off. "She's a big girl. She can handle it."

And he walks off without her, likely with the assumption that Shego will soon follow, and well — he's_ not_ wrong.

But earlier Shego saw Kim's eyes light up with fire she has never seen before. She saw the girl relentlessly pursue her and not let up until she downed her. She also saw how giddy she became in Ron's presence, how much she fell for him during his little romantic speech.

Like… _she's a big girl? She can handle it? _

Clearly, Doctor D hasn't been in love before.

But what is she supposed to do? Leave? No. This is her _job_, she's been waiting years for Drakken to try something like this, and now she's in it. She has no right to complain, she just — already kinda misses the days when this was fun.

Dammit. Why didn't Drakken do this on like Day One? It'd be a lot easier because she wouldn't feel so — er — close with Kim and Ron and — well Ron's dead, but you know…

Shego shakes her head and follows after Drakken. Maybe she can at least pull him out of there when he inevitably pushes the envelope too much with her. Or possibly to just protect him in case Kimmie goes feral, because as long as Drakken decides to monologue Kimmie to death instead of doing what he did to the Buffoon, there is no way no one is _not _dying tonight.


	2. Chapter 2

Ron is dead.

No one even seems to know how or when, they just know that it _is_. Unless this is just another part of Drakken's plan to make her absolutely lose her mind. But Drakken isn't shying away from the truth — he gloats with such candor that it is absolutely undeniable that Ron can be anything but dead.

The worst part? It's been years that this Ron has deceived her. Apparently, he has been on more missions with her than the old one. If that's true, the implications make her want to vomit. The Fearless Ferret, the Embarrassment Ninjas, the Moodulators, all of it — wasn't her Ron. Just some guy really good at playing pretend, and playing with her heart.

There are contradictions to be sure — like all the times that Syntho-Ron saved her life. But it's easy to wave it off and say he only did it to get closer to her to set-up the ultimate humiliation.

Is this really what Drakken wanted? She always figured he'd be happy enough just killing her, and honestly, she just kinda wishes that someone would put her out of her misery.

What a place to die, too. Tied to a foam cactus in a supply closet, while massive robots take over the world. Stripped of her battlesuit, cord cut from any wireless communication, Kim Possible is alone and helpless. People will blame her for this, she knows it.

The door creaks open and Kim raises her chin, hoping that maybe it's Syntho-Ron with an explanation, but it's just Shego. Oddly enough, Shego isn't smiling ear to ear like she was earlier. She seems timid, approaching Kim with the apprehension of someone stepping towards a feral animal. It makes Kim roll her eyes. As if she is going to go ballistic on them.

"Here to gloat for a second time?" Kim asks, knees bending back in towards her chest. "Because it's not funny."

"No," Shego sighs, bending down to Kim's level and looking directly at Kim, but Kim refuses to look back. "You alright?"

"No," Kim grunts. "Did you know?" Seems appropriate enough to ask.

Shego shakes her head, not that Kim would notice. So Shego reaches out and very gently slides back Kim's bangs, another fingertip touching Kim's chin, carefully forcing the girl to see her. "No," Shego says when Kim's eyes widen at Shego's face.

"I can't believe it still," Kim throws her head back against the foam, hair falling past her shoulders. "This is so dark, especially for him."

"Yeah," Shego sighs, scanning Kim's body.

Kim twitches inward at the voyeurism; she was in such a rush to get out of the house after Drakken's call, that she just stuffed the battlesuit on over her Prom dress, which is now coated in sweat and folded against her body. Some of the hem has been blasted off by lasers, and others sections near her ribs and forearms are coated in dried blood.

"I should have seen this coming," Shego admits.

Kim raises an eyebrow. "Care to explain?"

Shego folds her chin against her knees. She's so much older than Kim, but for a second, Kim feels this sort of sisterly kinship with the woman "Every villain like Dr. D is bound to snap one day. You guys — you _heroes_ — go way too easy on us, and eventually we realize how much of an advantage you give to."

"...you've had bosses pull this on you, before?" Kim asks.

"No, this is my first time," Shego sighs. "But I saw it happen a lot when I was working with the fam. Hego never saw it coming, as many times as it happened. Obviously, you're blind sided… you need to get tough, Kim."

Kim looks away, eyes focusing on the dusty floor. How can she be tough? Ron was her everything. Media called him a sidekick, but she knew better. She hopes he knew that too… but he probably didn't. She likely didn't even start to understand him to be her _partner_ until after this Syntho-Creep stepped in. Fuck. This is so messed up.

"No, I'm done," Kim frowns. "If Drakken lets me go… I'm not fighting back."

A little green fire bursts in Shego's pupil, seemingly flowing through her veins and springing life into her arms, which almost tear Kim right off the wall. "You'll — what? No. You're a fighter, you fight."

Kim frowns, shrinking back from Shego's splayed claws. "No, I'm nothing without Ron. Especially without the suit. I don't want to do this anymore."

"Kimmie, Drakken is _taking over the world_ as we speak, you're picking the worst time to clock out," Shego sneers, bowing her head at the ground. "Dammit."

Kim waits a second, trying to think of some kind of solid comeback. "G-Global Justice can…"

"Those guys can go suck a bag. You of all people know how inept they are."

"Yeah," Kim agrees immediately; that was a shitty excuse, she needs to be smarter if she really wants to argue her way out of this. "I don't know, but it _can'_t be me. I… I just want to save Eric and — "

" — you don't even like that kid," Shego tutts her tongue like Ann did the first night Eric came over for pizza. "Princess, don't make me do this."

Kim raises an eyebrow, eyeing Shego's now burning talons anxiously. "Do — what? I'm not following."

Shego grimaces back, "I'm springin' ya, _obviously_."

Kim blinks. Once. Twice. Thrice. "_Obviously_?! You're — "

" — bouncing," Shego nods. "Don't like — make it a thing, 'kay? I don't like this scheme, and I don't like that I wasn't privy to it. So I'm out."

Kim doesn't know what to say so she stays silent while little jets of plasma spin off Shego's fingertips and drill into the ropes securing her. Once the bondage is off her, Shego stands up and turns towards the door. Things are moving so quickly.

"Where are going?" Kim blurts out, hands smacking up the pole to give her some leverage. "Aren't you going to help me?"

Shego's shoulders slump and she looks back, lips curled in deep thought. Then she throws some of her hair past her eye. "Sorry, no can do. If I go up against Doctor D, I'm definitely going to be blacklisted from any future gigs, and ya know, I'm fine working for like — Dementor, or something, until he eventually snaps too, that is."

Kim bites down on her words. It's not that she particularly likes Shego, it would just be really helpful to have the woman on her side. Right now, she feels so alone, and now — responsible. If she doesn't try to stop Drakken now, she'll never forgive herself. It was so much easier when she was trapped.

Kim could try something like, "_Fat chance Dementor has if Drakken already controls everything," _but she knows what Shego is doing.

"You're a coward," Kim narrows her eyes, and that sends a jolt up Shego's shoulders. "You're just swapping with me. You'd rather not try — because you just trust that I'll take care of all this for you so you can keep doing your — your — " Her tongue plays against her teeth like a pianist that forgot to bring his sheet music. " — stupid shit."

Shego frowns, nodding gently, as if in agreement. "Meh. It's my lot in life. Take care, Kimmie."

Without looking, Shego's heel slams into the metal door and knocks it open, and before Kim can retort, Shego slips away and the door shuts behind her, leaving Kim once again in darkness.

It kinda strikes her in that moment that it's her first true solo mission, which means she actually has to try. Kim thinks of her anger; it's everywhere in her body, from the grinding teeth to the tense jaw to the squeezed together fingers. She might actually be down deep enough to kill someone; she might even have to if she wants to win.

She spits at the ground.

This would have been so much easier if she was just left alone without agency. Now she has to _work._

* * *

Kim is completely outnumbered with no way to contact Wade. No super suit, no special gun that automatically destroys the stupid control anetennae thing. Really, she should play things smoothly and carefully. Pick the goons off one by one, then maybe shut off the lights so she can snag Drakken from behind and throttle him. But she doesn't. Any complex train of thought just bashes it head against the wall and folds in; she's far too pissed off to think straight. The first opportunity Kim gets to sink a fist into the throat of one of Drakken's flunkies… oh how she cherishes the impact.

Kim runs both elbows into the goon's jaw and he falls back, laser gun feebly falling from his hands. Kim grabs it with one hand, and stomps into the next room: the control room. She can see the goons surveying and monitoring the progress of the Li'l Diablo invasion off of a matrix of screens.

Kim doesn't know if those screens have anything to do with the control for the bots, but she's got a gun in hand and is sort of feeling the whole shoot-first-ask-questions-later gambit. Definitely something Ron would give her push back on, but hey, no one's watching, and this will be _efficient._

Her teeth crack against each other when she unleashes a volley of stun blasts at the wall of monitors. The screens explode while control panels erupt. Some goons dive away to avoid the rushing heat, but others aren't as quick to respond and take a hail of fire to the face. Fortunately, things are moving too fast for Kim to measure the consequences of that.

After Kim blows out the last one, she gets sights on Drakken. He looks back at her with deer-in-headlight eyes, his blue skin drained into an off-white. Paralyzed because he sees Kim's e yes and knows what she wants. Kim _could_ do it now, kill him that is, but she also has — okay too many to count —_ a lot _of goons coming her way. Shoot Drakken and she'll get dogpiled, and probably suffocated. It's no holds barred tonight after all.

Kim dives into the shadows of the hallway, moving fast. By the time the goons pile into the narrow space, she is already safely contained in the air duct above them. She looks through the gaps in the vent, smiling while the goons stupidly cluster themselves together, as if that will make Kim more likely to appear.

Kim digs into her satchel and pulls out the laser lipstick, aiming it a sharp angle towards a spot several yards down. It blasts off a laser that cuts through the steel. She twirls her fingers fast, making a tight circle. Now severed from the rest of the vent, her section tilts down under her weight. So Kim twists back and fires off another laser line. This time in the opposite direction. She carves a second hole that completely disconnects her steel from the rest of the structure.

Then Kim's section of vent drops off the ceiling like a finely diced onion. Kim moves fast, ducking into a sprint and rolling out an open end at the last possible moment, right before the metal slams into the heads of several goons and knocking them straight to the floor.

Meanwhile, Kim hits the ground at a roll, knocking one foot high into the air when her back is to the ground. She feels her boot cleave one goon right in the jaw, and hears his feet stumble back. The same foot slams into the floor, and she pushes herself up. The goon knocks his laser pistol back, adjusting the settings. So Kim dives at him, arms rolling into a flurry of punches.

Kim manages to jam the pistol under her arm before it goes off. The goon tries firing a laser that blasts into the wall directly behind her, and while he struggles with the kickback, Kim squeezes the man's wrist like a vice. His hand splays open and she snatches the pistol with one arm, free arm clubbing the guy in the face, His visor cracks in two and he falls limp as a ragdoll.

He is probably down for the count, but she isn't playing games tonight. Kim raises one foot high and sends it into the already cracked visor, knocking the pieces of glass into the man's face. It's wrong, it's mean, but she has no back-up. She has to go rougher if she wants to win this, and now that's actually in the midst of combat, boy does she want to win.

Kim's head snaps over her shoulders, nostrils flaring as the smoke from the destroyed monitors curls in. She grins as she spots the true target: Drakken, standing haplessly behind one of the desks. She's almost surprised that he didn't even dive away and try to hide. He's just… standing there. Totally unlike the confident asshole that marched into her makeshift prison and laughed at her, all the while illustrating his disturbing plan.

It's weird. Her whole career she's looked at this man with a joke in her back pocket, but today she's just pissed. Maybe it's not weird; he killed her best friend, and she let it happen by never taking him seriously. Drakken cannot live. It goes against everything that she has fought for the past three years, but in this moment, she wants to see the light go out of his eyes. He can't hurt anyone ever again; there's no rehabilitation for someone as warped as him.

Kim's teeth smash together when she makes sure she's lined up for the perfect shot and grins even more when the red light from the plasma blast kicks onto her face before slipping away, and rocketing across the floor like a subway's headlights do when careening down a tunnel.

Last second though, Ron — no, not Ron, that _thing_ — leaps out from behind a table and tackles Drakken to the ground like he's some kind of secret service agent. No matter, Kim is close enough to victory here.

* * *

Drakken's head bounces against the carpeted floor, tiny hands trying to tear Ron off of him out of instinct, but then he remembers he invented and radicalized this Ron so there's nothing to worry about.

Ron smiles down at Drakken smugly, having abandoned the mission gear, trading it in for Ron's goofy Prom outfit. Why he chose to wear that ghastly thing, Drakken better not ask. Something is… off about this one. Ever since the big reveal, this Syntho-Ron has been really doubling down on the villainy thing. His cackle is just as scary — if not scarier — than Drakken's! It's a little weird and Drakken doesn't really want to worry about it at the moment.

After all, Syntho-Ron _is_ Ron Stoppable, through and through. Same memories, same feelings. He just works for Drakken is all.

Ron raises a finger to his pursed lips, unable to suppress a smirk and giggles, whole frame twitching inward. "Don't worry, Doc. I can take of big bad KP."

Drakken frowns. That makes sense, he supposes. Taking care of Kim Possible is what Syntho-Ron is here for, it makes sense for the boy to finally seize the reigns to this two year scheme and relish in it.

Wait… how did Kimberly Ann get out here anyways? She's supposed to be locked up!

Drakken looks about frantically. "Shego!" he whines, looking at Ron with wide eyes. "Where's Shego!?"

Ron gingerly wraps a hand around Drakken's hand, cupping his ear like he might a fine woman and smiles to himself again.

"Psch, we don't need Shego," Ron assures him. "I can handle it."

Drakken nods, because he has to. Shego… Shego must have left. But why…

Ron gets up, and from behind, Drakken sees no difference between the boy who used to lose his pants and do silly things, and the monster before him right now. Drakken did this, and Shego… Shego must not have liked it.

Had he gone too far? No matter. What's done is done. Regrets are for prisoners with life sentences, he's either going to win tonight, or die.

* * *

Ron springs back up into sight, sticking out of the ground almost like a scarecrow. He raises both hands in the air and steps around the desk, laughing softly to himself. "Kim, Kim, Kim… come on. You don't want this, right?"

Kim frowns, taking a step back, arm shaking as she trains the barrel on Ron's stupid face. God, it looks so much like him — Hell, it _is _him. Has been for so long now. He must be relieved to finally tell the truth.

"Kim, I know I'm kinda backstabbing you and stuff," Ron frowns, as if he's just as torn up as her. "But face it, KP. We're partners."

Those words feel like fingernails driving into her heart. Kim doesn't hesitate, doesn't blink, and fires.

...but the blast doesn't do anything. It merely warps Ron's face which bends like rubber against the stun blast. For a moment, his head resembles a spoon the way it curves inward, before bouncing back into proper form and reflecting the blast back to where Kim is. Deftly, she dodges to the side, leaving her open for Ron to pounce.

Ron swipes at her desperately, smacking her wrist and making her drop the stun gun. He leers at her like a predator, advancing slowly. "KP. Seriously. We're still best friends, just as much as you were with Old Ron, Hell, if not more. _We_ smacked lips after all."

Kim reaches back, fingers stroking the cushion to a computer chair, rolling it over to her side.

"I might be a Syntho-Drone, but I'm still Ron," Ron pleads, fists curling around his chest. "I have thoughts, feelings, all of it. I love Nacos, I love — " he blinks, as if trying to remember the next line in his script. " — Zombie Mayhem, and — and — you! I love _you_, KP."

Kim screams bloody murder and whips the computer chair off the floor, throttling the fat end of the plastic into Ron, knocking him against the desk. The rod she's holding splinters into pieces and she backs away, one pole in hand. Ron rolls off the desk in a heap, as if he's in pain. As if he can feel anything. But that's bullshit. He's fake, and he's not —

— she almost stabs him in the stomach with the plastic, but she can't bring herself to it. It's Ron! It's — she'll handle it later. Kim turns on her heel, and sprints up a nearby staircase, hoping it will bring her to —

— yes, it does. The control satellite.

It's pouring out. Within seconds, Kim is drenched in water and nearly slips on the rooftop as she marches across its width. The satellite is massive and she has — what? A piece of plastic? That's not enough. Dammit. If Shego just stayed, Kim is sure that her powers could short circuit the thing. She almost wishes Shego didn't flip like that, that she stayed evil. It would make this so easy. 'Course, that would have killed Shego, to kick her into this gargantuan tower. It wouldn't be justified.

Right now, Kim is working with nothing.

Overhead, Li'l Diablo robots scan the sky, so many that she is positive it outnumbers any human army on this planet. Drakken really has won. Unless she can shut this shit down before some kind of genocide unfolds.

"You know, KP," Ron says, white hands splayed across the door Kim came in through. He bows his head under the rain, closing the door behind him, smiling, cowlick already stuck to his forehead. "I was thinking… why don't_ we_ rule the world?"

Kim raises an eyebrow. He's lying. He has to be.

"I know, I know, it sounds crazy," Ron runs a hand down the back of his neck. "But seriously. We can overtake, Drakken, easy. Then we run our crime fighting thing into overdrive, yeah? These bots are like — the ultimate security. Think about it."

Kim shakes her head, but can't find the words to spit back at him. Like _You're crazy. _or _Stop talking like Ron, he's dead._ but that seems unfair. He _is _Ron, and he is right.

At least in the sense of super villainy, if Kim wanted to rule the world, this would be the moment. Right now, she just wants everything to go up in flames. Keeping the bots isn't an option.

"Listen, I get how it's easy to separate old Ron from me, okay?" Ron gestures at the air so genuinely, seemingly so invested in making Kim _get _this. "But the Fearless Ferret Ron that saved you when you got conked out by the poisonous gas? That was me, Kim. A-and the Ron who found that dumb plant so you wouldn't blush yourself out of existence?"

Kim blinks. He's right again. This was everything she had been thinking about in the storage room.

"I could've snapped your grapple cables at any time, KP," Ron says while miming that very action with his fingers. "I could've done a lot of things but I chose to do it this way — I did it for _us_."

...us? Oh no… no no no no…

"I'm serious, I'm head over heels for you, and I knew that — I knew the whole time that this was supposed to happen, and when you started dating Eric? Oh man, I got so mad. But I held it together so we could _get here_ so I could tell you _this_." He pauses to glance up at the sky, brows knit into agitation. "You want to save the world? Here's the best way. It's my gift to you, KP."

Kim thinks about it, then curses herself for even considering it. She's just angry, that's all. He knows that and is playing to it. He's not Ron, just some thespian who can play the part, all the while playing her like a fiddle. "No, Ron, shut up. People — people are dying."

Ron shrugs. "Yeah, obviously. Because those bots want to kill people, we just have to tell them not to. It's that easy."

Kim backs away, shaking her head. "You can't replace him."

Ron titters to himself. "You sure? You seemed pretty adamant about crushing on me with those Moodulator things."

Kim hesitates, fist feebly curling in on itself. Her arms go slack. "How long?"

It takes Ron a second. His shoulders wind back and he speaks with such disdain, "Our memories run so closely together, I honestly couldn't tell ya, KP. Sorry…" At that ,he actually does seem sympathetic.

"If… if you're really Ron…" Kim says, voice shimmering as she tries to hold it all in. "...you know that this is wrong."

Ron frowns. "N-no. I don't," he sees Kim turn away in disinterest and lurches towards her in a frenzy. "But! But! I think the Old Ron would agree with me! That's why I feel this way, it's the only scientific explanation, he would want you to come with me."

Kim shakes her head. She wants to say, _No. _or _That is something I can't do. _but any word would make her vomit. So instead she somersaults back, flopping off the edge and just managing to curl her fingers around the lip of the satellite. She nearly slips trying to hoist herself up, but she makes it. Quickly, she finds an escape hatch and kicks it open, sliding into the satellite.

It's all wires and shit, all lit up by this hot, red light. She sweats immediately, folding against the support beam giving a spine to this machine. She presses a hand to the wall and thinks fast. If she pulls the wrong cables, would that be bad? Fuck, she really wishes she could just call Wade.

Then a hand wraps around her throat and shoves her against the wall. She's forced to look at Syntho-Ron as his eyes go wide and manic. He gnashes his teeth together, "No! Kim! You aren't listening to me! You've never listened to me! I'm trying to help you!"

"Fuck you," Kim spits.

Ron's face goes icy as the gob of goo splatters on his cheek, not that he can actually feel it. "You were nice to me yesterday, and I was the same guy, Kim! This doesn't change anything!"

"Yes it does!" Kim's voice goes hoarse, her throat dry and clammy. "My best friend was killed, and I didn't even notice!"

"Yes, because I _am_ the guy that got killed," Ron snaps.

Kim looks away, but he drags her face back to him. "If Ron really wanted this, why'd he have to die?"

Ron blinks. "I… I don't know. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe Ron would hate this. But who cares then? He's dead, Kim! And it's just me, and don't get me wrong, but you didn't start having feelings towards me until after that!"

Kim frowns. This is all so messed up. At least she knows he won't kill her. She knows Ron's tells for when he's lying, and this is him at his most honest. She looks back at him seriously and lets her eyelids fall a little. She makes her smile go pert and sultry. "Okay."

Ron raises an eyebrow, "Okay?"

Kim wraps her arms around his back, and squeezes them. Kicks a leg up into his stomach, and presses her cheek to his. He giggles, so delighted that she's making the right choice. Her lips crawl up his chin until they reach his, and before she can even gently kiss him, his tongue lashes onto hers. He's so rough, she almost chokes on it. He squeezes back so hard. Like any other boy would. Like Eric.

Kim's Ron would never.

Kim grabs onto the computer chair pole she's been concealing and twists it right into Ron's stomach. It punctures whatever sac is holding all the Syntho-Goo in. The boy gags, and that's not enough, so she digs in deeper. He screams and she pushes him off her.

Ron looks up at her with the most hate filled eyes. Already, the color from his skin is fading, morphing into something translucent as Syntho-Goo works its way up his throat and splatters out his mouth. It's so wretched, and she looks away. Five seconds later she looks back, and he's like a half-deflated balloon now.

Ron looks up at her one last time, probably to say something significant, and vomits the rest of himself onto the wires and circuit boards. The wires and electronics hiss and moan, reacting to the goo as if it were some kind of corrosive acid.

The red lights around them flash and then go black. When Kim steps outside the satellite, she sees shrunken Li'l Diablo bots falling from all over. One even nails her in the head like a chunk of hail.

Casually, Kim leaps over the precipice and lands on the rooftop. Mere feet away, Doctor Drakken is slumped onto his knees, nervously shuffling to catch each bot that falls from up above. Utterly crestfallen.

It makes Kim want to laugh. How pathetic. Her fists tighten at her sides. She just killed Ron, yet her hands don't want to stay at her sides. They want to swing outward and pulverize anything else that can move. They want to tear flesh and shatter bone. She wants more. Ron wasn't real, she keeps telling herself that. He was some… bizarre creation. It's not a true kill, and she wants the real thing now. She wants to spill Drakken's blood so she can know how it really feels to be horrible inside.

Kim walks up to him and waits for his eyes to find her, and raises the plastic shard that killed Syntho-Ron into the air, noting the bubbling goo clinging to the jagged piece that pierced Ron's stomach. She pivots it lazily, so that Drakken can see the goo and understand. Immediately, the blue man cries. Kim pities him and drops the plastic. His knees shuffle through the puddles, and he wraps his tiny hands around the plastic, bowing his neck and pressing his forehead up to the smooth, cold plastic end. He cradles it back and forth. His cries are loud and scratchy, almost inhuman.

No, not inhuman — like a baby. Drakken is… like a baby.

The hot blood flowing through Kim goes icy. Her shoulders relax; it's over. She killed Ron, and wanted more — that's what murder feels like. But she can't kill Drakken. He's — something's wrong with him. He needs help. Killing him would be over the line.

Killing him… killing anyone… would be wrong.

Kim wants to scream, wants to take the plastic and jab it into herself. But she doesn't because she knows she is supposed to live.

But between the two of them, Drakken probably feels a lot more than she does.


	3. Chapter 3

Kim doesn't go to Ron's funeral. It's as shitty as it sounds, she just doesn't see the point. Though Ron's death is treated as nothing more than a tabloid, there are still nightcrawlers and other hungry journalists who want their scoop. It's hard enough avoiding them, so the funeral is an obvious no go. Everyone wants to keep asking Kim questions that she honestly doesn't have answers to.

Wade offers to help Kim tell all the necessary people face-to-face, and though she did spend an entire day staring at the ceiling, wishing that someone — anyone — would help her do all this, she politely declines him. She doesn't really know why, and she spends the next day feeling angry at herself.

Telling Ron's parents is definitely the hardest part. They never really understood what Ron did, and even after Kim explicitly says, _Ron was killed two years ago; I am so sorry, _they still don't understand. _Then who slept in that bed upstairs? Who helped me clean out the garage last week? Kim, you aren't making sense, Ron was alive… so where is he?_

Kim doesn't have the heart to say she killed their boy, or at least the boy they had gotten used to.

A few days into these painfully traumatic get-togethers, Wade tells Kim to not check the news. Apparently, some muckrakers found the Syntho-Goo residue inside the Li'l Diablo Control Beacon and put two and two together. Fingerprints were found on the plastic shard that impaled Ron and… it's not a good look. And when Kim famously declines interviews through her silence, Drakken takes the mic and gloats.

Cue the renewed cultural discourse on the ethics of cloning. _Kim Possible is a murderer now. _and _If the clone was an exact replica of Ron Stoppable, then he should have been redeemable. _And yes, Kim does read the news anyways, and she understands where people are coming from. The problem is that they are all assuming the best from Ron — that he was a good person.

But what he did to her at Bueno Nacho Headquarters was evil, and honestly, not something that surprised her. Not that Kim ever suspected Ron to fall into that incel kind of crowd, but there_ are_ a lot of guys like him who… she doesn't know. Maybe some of Drakken rubbed off on Syntho-Ron, or — or — it's not worth thinking about. Wade warned her for a reason, so she kills the data plan on her phone to save herself the misery.

Betty Director and Will Du are nice about everything at least. Kim only visits them because of the whole Ron Factor thing, but what ends up happening is that Betty makes a promise to Kim that she will work with Wade to wire mission requests to Team Possible over to Global Justice. Kim is kind of reluctant to do that (seeing how she's honestly just better at that sort of thing than GJ) but eventually caves, because she knows she's not ready to do field work for a while anyways.

Will walks Kim out, and surprises her by asking if she wants to grab some coffee. They walk a few blocks in silence, and he leads her into this hip indie shop where he buys her an Americano. He takes a mocha with whipped cream, she notes.

"_Possible, your grief is understandable but misguided," _Will finally says. "_Your friend died two years ago, Drakken told you as much. You did the right thing eliminating that Syntho-Cretin. The only tragedy is how good he was at playing the part."_

She was kind of hoping they wouldn't talk about Ron, but it ends up being the whole coffee meet. It's better than her usual at least. She can at least be honest with how she feels.

When it comes time to look at Ron's will, it turns out that Ron did exactly what Kim told him to not do and procrastinated the Hell out of writing one. So Ron has no will, which is fine because he doesn't really own anything. Most of Ron's things go to Felix, mostly because Kim doesn't have any strong feelings towards Ron's stuff.

But Kim _does_ get Rufus. Who is definitely depressed. He doesn't come out to play or anything, even when offered a mound of cheese. She wonders if Rufus knew but just wasn't capable of articulating what happened. But that isn't helpful; Rufus is all that's left of Ron and she just wants him to be happy. So when he hides in the corner of his cage all day, she at least hangs out next to him to give him some solidarity in their combined depression.

...oh, and Kim breaks up with Eric, like immediately. Dude was as much of a sleazeball as Syntho-Ron. She could see him pulling the same crap if he were a Syntho-Drone. The break-up goes so poorly, there's a second where Kim is pretty sure Eric is going to hit her, so she reacts and absolutely floors him. Like elbow to his lower back, hand on his head, and he cries. It feels good, to like, have someone feel anything in this new world of gray.

Eric doesn't tell a soul. That's all that matters. Kim Possible can stay intact.

After a few weeks pass, the school term ends. With no mission and no part-time job, it leaves Kim pretty bored. Her parents worry about her, not used to their daughter living so sedentary. So they make her apply to jobs; turns out no one wants to hire Kim Possible to do anything but like — be a special Global Justice agent. (It would get her out of returning to high school.) But Kim says no.

She's not ready for anything. There was only one thing she was good at it, and those days are long since past. _Never again_, she thinks every time a _beep-beep-de-beep!_ breaches Wade's firewall.

Kim almost visits Doctor Drakken one day when she's feeling particularly cynical. The man got a life sentence, and she knows that he'll suffer more from than that capital punishment, but… sometimes she thinks of him and her hands crave to destroy again. She wants to reach through the bars and bash him again and again into the iron until he falls to pieces. She wants to smile at him as he crumples into nothingness.

Another part of her wants to stare at him, wait until he flinches, and ask, "_Why?"_

But she knows the answer. "_So that I could finally defeat you handedly, Kimberly Ann! And defeat you, I did. Maybe I won't be the one to take over the world, but you have failed… just… erm… make sure it's not Demenz."_

It's a funny exchange; she writes it down in her journal when she wants a laugh, and also a compare-and-contrast for the day she caves in and does visit Drakken. Which she will only do when she knows she won't try to kill him, she promises herself that. She can't go to that dark place again.

It's August when she visits his grave.

The tombstone is small; Ron's parents never really had a lot of money, and as nice as Betty and Will were to her, Global Justice made no offer to cover funeral costs.

Kim knows that if she just stepped forward and spoke about it publicly, Ron could have gotten the treatment he deserved. She just didn't want to be on camera. She's not ready. She's not sure if she ever will be.

"So you've been dead for two years, huh?" Kim says to no one in particular, feeling really stupid talking to a rock with an empty coffin six feet below it. But she heard this is how people process things. She digs her hands deep into the pockets of her pea-coat. "Your Dad and I were feeling a little morbid yesterday and crunched some numbers… and the stats don't lie. By all accounts, you should have died two years ago and well — you did. Um. That's not funny, sorry. I can't believe I didn't notice."

The tomb remains still. It's not very cathartic, so Kim lets her nylon-covered knees fall into the grass and with her bare hands, she grips the edge of the smooth stone and bows her head.

"I love you, you know," Kim nods, biting her lip so she won't cry. "I fell for you after you died, but that Syntho-Ron acted just like you. Like he went on American Starmarker and did a rap on-air that was so — you. He was so unapologetically yourself. Um. Except when he was acting like a total creep. He… he almost kind of assaulted me. I… I killed him."

Her elbows slide against the rock and she looks off to the side, at the blowing leaves. "Could I have saved you, Ron? I can't stop thinking about it. Like, I literally don't know when any of this happened. I want answers, and no one has them. They keep telling me… that you just sort of died, and when Global Justice tested the memories of what was left in Syntho-You, they found _everything_… except your death. But for crying out loud, he even remembered your first Naco as if it was his."

Kim looks at the tomb seriously. "I have to go back out there."

She knows Ron would understand; it's just everyone else that doesn't. Because things are so much scarier now. Which is exactly why she has to fight. "The site has been on hiatus. I'm thinking about letting go of Wade… and leaving Rufus at home for missions, I don't want anyone else to — " Her face softens. " — you wouldn't want me to do that though, would you? You'd want me to like… find a "better" sidekick than you, partner. Like Yori or…" She trails off. Shego comes to mind for a second, but now that she's had some distance from it, she recognizes that Shego was a coward and still accountable for all of it. "...it doesn't matter."

_Now_ it feels like a real conversation. She can see him listening to her with keen interest, albeit between gulps of meat and cheese at Bueno Nacho, but it's so real to her.

"You probably feel worse than I do," Kim frowns, hands falling to her sides. "Dying and leaving me alone with that monster for the past two years. In hindsight, it's bad, but we had fun. Do you — do you want to hear about it?"

This time it's just silence. She messed it up, the question pushed the boundaries of her reality too much. She doesn't know what Ron would say, she doesn't even really believe in God. At least, not on a serious level. Ron is gone, that's all there is to it. Whatever _this _is only serves Kim Possible.

She touches the rock again. It's so cool to her palm. The little bumps brush against her skin, and she feels grounded. She takes in a deep breath.

She needs this. She needs to reclaim her past before she goes out there again, so she takes a guess at when Ron disappeared. Probably around that whole escapade with the helmet that made Rufus really smart. Whatever Ron did after that, it wasn't _her_ Ron but she'd like to think that Syntho-Ron made the same choices the real one would, because as despicable and manipulative as he was… he still did her right. He saved her life, even risked his own to find her overdue library book once. And maybe that was just to manipulate her into falling in love with him, maybe real Ron would have marinated in the background while she suffered, she doesn't know.

But there is a reason she believed Syntho-Ron's lies, and it's because… it's because real Ron was a good person through and through. He would have done all those things, she just knows he would. She has to cling to that, and if there is a God and subsequently an afterlife, real Ron deserves to know what his legacy is.

"This will take a few hours, so I hope you don't have plans," Kim says weakly. "I'm going to tell you the story of Ron Stoppable."


End file.
